The electricity produced by a photovoltaic installation can be exported directly to the national grid, and the EDF offer 20-year contracts to purchase this electricity at a very attractive price per unit which is much higher than the cost per unit paid by the householder.

In addition to this, and to encourage this new technology, those residents who are registered for tax purposes in France are eligible for a tax credit of a maximum of 8,000€ (2010). As long as one is registered for tax purposes, even if not eligible to pay income tax, the credit is paid by cheque. There are also “green loan” schemes available from some French banks to facilitate the financing of these installations.

As this technology becomes more and more common the payback time on the investment in photovoltaic systems has been greatly reduced to around 7-8 years for a 3 kilowatt system.